Increased insurance marketing competition is improving the offering for consumers, according to moneysupermarket.com.

Firms' insurance marketing campaigns are under more pressure to raise the "standards" of policies to keep up with the competition.

Head of research at moneysupermarket.com, Peter Gerrard, notes that competition is particularly rife in motor insurance marketing.

He said: "They are having to be more reactive and more competitive and bring their premiums down, and the result is increased competition.

"So what might be a really cheap policy may still offer some really good benefits. It is a case of looking around, looking at what is excluded and at what you need."

According to the AA British Insurance Premium Index for the first quarter of 2008, buildings cover has remained at an average of £209 since the beginning of the year while contents insurance has risen by one per cent to £129.